I know this will upset some people, but I don't see any real evidence to suggest Minnesota is a playoff team this year. Incredibly top-heavy roster.

I can see both sides of this argument. On one hand, the team was on the fringe of the playoffs last year and added two top 20 players, not to mention the arrival of a consensus top prospect in Granlund. On the other hand, the biggest worry is on defense. Suter will certainly help, but I'm not sold on guys like Spurgeon or Gilbert yet, and both those guys will need to play significant minutes. Probably another year away to become "legit" contenders, but I think they could sneak in. It's going to be a total crapshoot with such a short and condensed season, though.

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"Compadres, it is imperative that we crush the freedom fighters before the start of the rainy season. And remember, a shiny new donkey for whomever brings me the head of Colonel Montoya."

I can see both sides of this argument. On one hand, the team was on the fringe of the playoffs last year and added two top 20 players, not to mention the arrival of a consensus top prospect in Granlund. On the other hand, the biggest worry is on defense. Suter will certainly help, but I'm not sold on guys like Spurgeon or Gilbert yet, and both those guys will need to play significant minutes. Probably another year away to become "legit" contenders, but I think they could sneak in. It's going to be a total crapshoot with such a short and condensed season, though.

I felt that way partly because of a possible lack of depth and talent, but equally because I can't see this team being a vastly improved from day one, meaning a 48-game season probably holds them down a little bit.

It seems like sound logic to think that the teams that underwent the least amount of turnover are better positioned to get off to the necessary good start in a short year.

I felt that way partly because of a possible lack of depth and talent, but equally because I can't see this team being a vastly improved from day one, meaning a 48-game season probably holds them down a little bit.

It seems like sound logic to think that the teams that underwent the least amount of turnover are better positioned to get off to the necessary good start in a short year.

I agree with this, they're going to have to integrate Suter into all of the special teams units which is a tough proposition considering the limited time they're going to have before the games start, and the fact that chemistry on those units don't happen overnight. They still lack defensive depth, and the scary part is if they're not careful they could end up playing Suter even more than Nashville did.

Yup, that's why I'm glad the Avs are so young and deep, we may only have one top pairing defensemen, and two #4s, but we've got a bunch of solid bottom pairing defensive guys, a **** ton of quality forwards and are covered in net.

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BK

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Originally Posted by AcheTen

JPP is a better and more productive player than Brandon Graham

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Originally Posted by abaddon41_80

Is Shaun Hill a top 10 QB? Definitely not. Is he a top 20 one? Almost certainly.